Measurement of the Flow of the River Canastra in Itapuranga (Goiás) as a strategy for Planning and Management of Hydrographic Basins

This study aimed to measure the flow of the Canastra River, located in the municipality of Itapuranga (Goiás), from 2017 to 2018, using the float method. This river plays an important role in providing water for the urban area, for industry and for the irrigation of extensive areas of cultivation. Thus, the analysis focused on showing how these results can contribute to the planning and management of river basins. The methodology used for data collection was the estimation by the float method. The results obtained showed that in the wettest months the flow rate reached a relative average of 200 m³/s, with a maximum flow rate of 450 m³/s. In the dry months, especially in October 2018, the flow reached a minimum of 4.1 m³/s. The flow data of the watercourse allowed to show the extremes of the water source capacity, which has been increasingly under pressure from increasing demand for supply in the urban area of Itapuranga and also from industries and agricultural activities. Furthermore, this experimental study demonstrated how the use of techniques considered simple and cheap, such as the one used, emerge as possibilities for the practice of watershed management, available to managers, especially in small municipalities in the country with limited financial resources.

Information method for control of green glass production

Objectives. The technological process for the production of sheet glass by the float method is continuous and large-scale. Most European cars (up to 90%) are factory-tinted green; the bulk of the glass is painted in the desired color during the production process. The introduction of modern information technologies and digitalization has opened up opportunities for a significant increase in the efficiency of glass production. Accounting for the amount of drawn and cut glass allows you to evaluate an important indicator of the production work—the glass utilization rate, which determines the percentage of quality glass in the total output. The yield of the quality glass depends on the technological waste in the production process. To assess the effect of waste arising at the production stages on the glass utilization rate, an analysis of the statistical data of the float line operation was carried out. These statistical data differ from the normal law of probability distribution, which limits the use of traditional statistical control methods. Regression models do not always give an accurate mathematical description of the process since the variance of the conditional mathematical expectation of the output variable relative to the input is not a consistent characteristic of the relationship between the input and output variables. The purpose of this work is to study the application of information modeling theory for the analysis and control of the technological process of green glass production in terms of its utilization rate.Methods. The technique of modeling technological chains has some peculiarities with that for operations modeling. It analyzes operations to identify possible information links between parameters. Thus, the process of obtaining the utilization rate of green glass in the production process can be followed. This study analyzes the influence of the paired and triple interactions of waste on the process of affording the utilization rate of glass at the stages of green glass production.Results. Information modeling of the technological process of affording the utilization rate of green glass in the production process has been carried out. Informational analysis results in a conclusion about the sufficiency of the control of the utilization rate of green glass in the production process according to informatively related parameters—waste at the stages of glass melting, annealing, and flanging.Conclusions. The selected method of information control of the glass utilization rate can be used in quality management systems in the production of green glass by the float method.

Flow Measurements in Open Channels Using Integrating-Floats

The flow measurements have increased importance in the last decades due to the shortage of water resources resulting from climate changes that request high control of the available water needed for different uses. The classical technique of open channel flow measurement by the integrating-float method was needed for measuring flow in different locations when there were no available modern devices for different reasons, such as the cost of devices. So, the use of classical techniques was taken place to solve the problem. The present study examines the integrating float method and defines the parameters affecting the acceleration of floating spheres in flowing water that was analyzed using experimental measurements. The method was investigated theoretically, as well as many experimental tests in a fixed floor laboratory flume were conducted. Different sizes of solid plastic spheres with different weights were used as floats to measure velocities and then discharge computation. The results indicate that the integrating-float technique is feasible and accurate for measuring low flow velocity in open channels. It was desirable to use small floats with specific gravity closer to unity to get more accurate results. The measured velocities and the estimated discharges were compared with discharges obtained using some other common laboratory measuring techniques. Good agreement was obtained between the integrating-float method results with the results of velocities obtained using other measurement techniques, with an error of less than 2.5%.

Flow Measurements in Open Channels Using Integrating-Floats

The flow measurements have increased importance in the last decades due to the shortage of water resources resulting from climate changes that request high control of the available water needed for different uses. The classical technique of open channel flow measurement by the integrating-float method was needed for measuring flow in different locations when there were no available modern devices for different reasons, such as the cost of devices. So, the use of classical techniques was taken place to solve the problem. The present study examines the integrating float method and defines the parameters affecting the acceleration of floating spheres in flowing water that was analyzed using experimental measurements. The method was investigated theoretically, as well as many experimental tests in a fixed floor laboratory flume were conducted. Different sizes of solid plastic spheres with different weights were used as floats to measure velocities and then discharge computation. The results indicate that the integrating-float technique is feasible and accurate for measuring low flow velocity in open channels. It was desirable to use small floats with specific gravity closer to unity to get more accurate results. The measured velocities and the estimated discharges were compared with discharges obtained using some other common laboratory measuring techniques. Good agreement was obtained between the integrating-float method results with the results of velocities obtained using other measurement techniques, with an error of less than 2.5%.

Comparing weight method and float method for pressurised metered dose inhaler as dose counting method.

INTRODUCTION Pressurised metered-dose inhalers (pMDIs) are not equipped with dose counters, so estimating the actuation remaining is difficult. We compared weight method and float method in estimating the actuation remaining in discarded pMDIs.METHODOLOGY Used non-metered pMDIs were collected from Pharmacy department Hospital Seri Manjung from June to Dec 2018. Each of the returned canister was evaluated using float and weight method to predict the balance actuation in the canister. For the float test, the canister was placed in a container of water. Based on its position in the water, the pMDI was categorised as 1=empty, 2=¼ full, 3=½ full, 4=¾ full, or 5=full. For the weight method, canisters were weighed, and actuation remaining were calculated using a linear regression equation where the general equation is: Actuation remaining = Constant + β*pMDI weight, and further categorised as above. The percentage of empty pMDIs between the two methods were compared.RESULTS A total of 4517 pMDIs were returned to the pharmacy, of which 2131 (47%) were salbutamol, 1149 (25%) budesonide, 685 (15%) ipratropium/fenoterol, 340 (8%) innovator fluticasone, 182 (4%) generic fluticasone, and 30 (1%) beclomethasone. Overall, the float method classified 75% pMDIs as empty, compared to 71% by the weight method. The percentage of empty salbutamol, generic fluticasone, and beclomethasone pMDIs were similar between both methods. A higher percentage of budesonide pMDIs were classified as empty by the float method compared to the weight method (62% vs 37%). For ipratropium/fenoterol pMDIs, the float method did not identify any empty canisters, but 82% were classified as empty by the weight method. CONCLUSION This study produced a prediction equation that can be used to estimate remaining actuation in a pMDI based on its weight. There were differences in the identification of empty pMDIs between the float test and the weight method, which varied by drug. The weight method may be a convenience method to be used to measure actuation remaining in pMDIs returned to the pharmacy, as well as patients’ adherence to pMDIs.

Stream Flow Measurement: Development of a Relationship between the Float Method and the Current Meter Method

<p>In diverse developments such as hydropower potential assessment, flood mitigation studies, water supply, irrigation, bridge and culvert hydraulics, the magnitude of stream or river flows is a potential design input. Several methods of flow measurement exist; some basic and some more sophisticated. The sophisticated methods use equipment which, although they provide more accurate and reliable results, are invariably expensive and unaffordable by many institutions that depend greatly on flow records to plan and execute their projects. The need for skilled expertise in the use of these equipment and the associated maintenance problems preclude them from consideration in most projects developed and executed in developing regions such as Africa. For countries or institutions in these regions, there is a need for less expensive, but relatively reliable methods for stream or river flow measurement to be investigated; methods that require no equipment maintenance schemes. One such method is the float method in which the velocity of an object thrown in a river is measured by recording the time taken for the object to traverse a known distance and multiplying the velocity by the cross-sectional area of the river or stream. This method looks simplistic, but when flows obtained from it are correlated with those obtained from the more accurate and conventional methods, reliable results can be obtained. In this study, flow measurements were done at 42 different stream sections using the float method and a more reliable and generally accepted but expensive flow measurement method using a current meter. A statistical relationship was then developed between the flows obtained by the two methods by fitting a linear regression model to the set of data points obtained at the 42 locations on several reaches of selected streams in the western area of Freetown.  The study was conducted on streams with tranquil or laminar flow with flow magnitudes in the range of 0.39 m3/s to 4 m3/s in practically straight reaches with stable banks. The material of the stream beds was laterite soil. Thirty-two data sets were used to develop and calibrate the model and the remaining ten data sets were used to verify the model. The current meter method flows were regressed on the float method flows. For a significance level of 5%, the predicted flows of a current meter, given a float method flow, showed a high level of agreement with the observed current meter flows for the tested data set. </p>